Dear Wedding Helper, Our wedding is at the end of October. It’s a church ceremony and we were going to have a reception, but, to make a long story short, we ended up having to cancel the reception. Have you ever heard of putting a card box in the church? Help! -Tammy Marchand, via email Dear Tammy,

In my profession, I have attended a lot of weddings and witnessed a lot of unique practices....

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Our wedding is at the end of October. It’s a church ceremony and we were going to have a reception, but, to make a long story short, we ended up having to cancel the reception. Have you ever heard of putting a card box in the church? Help! -Tammy Marchand, via email

In my profession, I have attended a lot of weddings and witnessed a lot of unique practices. However, this is the first time I’ve ever come across a bride not having a reception, so I have never known a bride who needed to put a card box in the church. To gain insight to your question, I reached out to a wedding coordinator and a clergyman. Here’s what they had to say:

Kari Adams, wedding coordinator and owner of The Handmade Event in Manhattan, says she has never seen a card box at a wedding ceremony, but thought up a genius way to handle it: “If the church ceremony is the only time that you will have with your guests, then I think that you can put a table together filled with wedding details. If you have a table with a guestbook, small favors, wedding programs, and some photos of the couple, you could include a card box there.” Adams believes “people who bring gifts would be happy to have a place to put them, but you need to make it feel as if it were presented for guest comfort, not just so the bride and groom can get some cash.”

As far as the church is concerned, I am not aware of any churches that have a policy forbidding card boxes, although it’s a good idea to ask in advance. Ken Norian, a Senior Warden at The Church of St. Jude in Wantagh, says his church would not have a problem with having a card box at the ceremony, and has “certainly heard more outlandish ideas than that.”

If you have a wedding question, e-mail The Wedding Helper at karen.ruffini@newsday.com and your question could be featured!

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